Christmas tree stand



E. F.' MARcuccf 2,899,156

CHRISTMAS TREE 'STAND .Filed March 8, 1956 ""9 aw/ M M Aug. 11, 1959 faz Emil F. Marcucci INVENTOR.

waazlizm Y MM 5m United States Patent CHRISTMAS TREE STAND F. .Marcucci,Jackson, Calif.

Application 'Marchi 1956,- Serial No. 570,266 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-48)'The-Jpresent-invention relates -to an improved Ghristmas tree standwhich, while structurally and functionally similar to prior art stands,is novel by comparison thereto and is especially well adapted to servethe purposes for which it has been invented.

As would appear to be substantially self-evident from the precedingstatement of the general nature of the invention, one objective has todo with a stand which, in an over-all structural sense, constitutes aneasy-to-recognize advance in the art and better solves, it is believed,the production requirements and economies of manufacturers, the compactand convenient packaging and handling needs of retailers, and theordinarily expected needs of most users.

More specifically, novelty is predicated on a simple and practicalwooden or equivalent cruciform base provided centrally with a pointedtrunk anchoring prong, said base being constructed to function inconjunction with a pair of oppositely disposed detachably and hingedlymounted V-shaped stays capable of performing their intended bracing andstabilizing requirements in connection with tree trunks of varyingcross-sectional dimensions.

Stated somewhat more explicitly, the over-all stand is made up ofseparable parts thus providing a practical knock-down construction foreasy storage, the stays being constructed of springy metal and providinglegs or limbs which may be pressed together when attaching anddetaching, or allowed to spring apart for reliable retention on thebase.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparentfrom the following description and the accompanying sheet ofillustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate likeparts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of aChristmas tree and illustrating how it is fastened down on a standconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view on a larger scale with parts appearing in section andelevation;

Figure 3 is an exaggerated view on the approximate vertical line 33 ofFigure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is an exploded perspective of the base;

Figure 5 is a view in section and elevation of the hub portion of thebase wherein the water containing cup or receptacle is omitted; and,

Figures 6 and 7 are fragmentary perspective illustrations of portions ofthe V-shaped stay.

The base as a structural entity is denoted by the numeral 8. It may besaid to be generally cruciform and flat. Actually it is made up of apair of substantially duplicate wooden or equivalent members 10 and 12which are rectangular in cross-section and have their cooperatingcentral portions 14 and 16 notched or mortised and interlocked with thebolt holes 18 thereof in alignment. A pin, also what may be called abolt, is provided in the shank 20 and extends through the holes, theheaded lower end Patented Aug. 11, 1959 12 beingaccessibly locatedas-atZZKFigs. Zand 5;); The intermediate. iporti'onis screw-threaded at24 'to accommodate an assembling and retaining -nut 26 and an associatedwasher'28. The upper-end above -the threads-is pointed toprovidetananchoring prong 30; This is;press'ed up intothe base-ofthetrunlcof the tree 32in the manner shown. In someinstance's,th'earrangement will-be=that shown in=Fig. In other instances,itm-ay-bedesirable to usea receptacle or water cupand I this :is denotedby theanumeral34 and ha's its bottom 36-centrally apertured so that thebolt may .pass'up through the aperture andinto-the cup. In thissituationthere-isa-rubber or compressible washer 38,.provided' which issqueezed. down by the washer 28 and nut 26 to provide agsubstantiallyliquid-ti-ghtsjoint.

One ofrthe-base members is provided-on=.opposite-sides' of the hub areawith wood screws. That is to say, I provide a pair of wood screws 40 asshown best in Fig. 3. The threaded portion 40 is screwed into the basemember and the shank portion 42 is allowed to project beyond an edge ofthe base member to space the head 44 and particularly the enlargedshoulder portion 46 outwardly from said edge. In this space the springmetal legs or limbs 48 of the V-shaped stays or frames 50 and 51 arearranged. The stays are the same in construction and a description ofone will suflice for both. Each stay is formed from a length of strapmetal which is bent upon itself as at 54 to provide an eye 56, which eyeis adapted to accommodate the nail or equivalent fastener 58. The limbsare such that they may be sprung together by hand or released andallowed to spring apart by the inherent resiliency embodied therein. Thefree lower ends 60 are provided with side-opening keyhole slots 62. Therestricted mouth portion 64 may thus be fitted in an obvious manner overthe reduced shank and shoved into place whereupon the larger portion ofthe keyhole slot may be allowed to spring but and to embrace and keyitself on the shouldered portion 46. It follows that the notched lowerends are latched and keyed in place on the wood screws and thereforeonce the screws are put in position they need not be removed. On theother hand, the stays are readily detachable therefrom and may bepackaged compactly for storage purposes. As a matter of fact, themembers 10 and 12 may be separated if desired for storage.

It will be seen that the invention is of the utmost simplicity inconstruction and use, can be assembled and disassembled in a matter ofseconds. Only pliers are required in using it. The stand when properlyset up holds the tree firmly and safely. Only one size is required fortrees up to 4 inches in diameter and the device will last indefinitely.It collapses into a small package 'when not in use, and it may be usedwith or without the water cup and does not require squaring the butt orremoving low branches.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further eX- planation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A portable knockdown stand for temporarily basing and supporting thetrunk of a Christmas tree comprising a base cruciform in plan andembodying cooperating coplanar base members having median portionscrossing each other and providing a hub, a trunk retaining membercarried by said hub portion and embodying a pointed prong projectingabove the level of the hub portion and adapted to penetrate the treetrunk, a first inverted V- shaped stay having an eye at the upper end toaccommodate a fastener used in securing the eye to the trunk of thetree, also having downwardly divergent resilient arms the inherentresiliency of which tends to spread the arms apart from each other, apair of headed fasteners mounted opposite each other on longitudinaledge portions of one radiating part of one of said base members, saidarms straddling said part and having keeper notches at their lower endsreleasably engaging said fasteners between the heads thereof andadjacent marginal'edges of said part, and a second inverted V-shapedstay a duplicate of the first'stay and having downwardly divergentresilient arms also straddling the other-radiating part of said basemember and formed at their lower ends with 'keeper'notches likewisesecured by headed fasteners to the longitudinal edges of said last-namedradiating part.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein each headed fastenercomprises a wood screw having a screw- References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 573,225 Kurtz Dec. 15, 1896 607,395Hunt July 12, 1898 875,039 Beebe Dec. 21, 1907 926,638 Barton June 29,1909 1,397,254 Karschitz Nov. 15, 1921 1,856,349 Bigelow May 3, 19322,200,183 Legg May 7, 1940 2,645,441 Meredith ...2 July 14, 1953

